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NHL teams anxious to get to work
Canadian Press
6/21/2005 5:36:00 PM
As the NHL and NHL Players' Association continue to put the finishing touches on the collective bargaining agreement, player agents and general managers are anxiously waiting to get their hands on the new deal.
Because once free agency kicks off sometime this summer, it's going be mass mayhem in the NHL.
Some teams hardly have any players under contract for next season. Others will cut their rosters by buying out big contracts. And some clubs will approach star players to re-structure their contracts in order to create cap room.
Agents, meanwhile, will need to quickly get a feel for the landscape and find a home for their clients before all the cap room is gone around the league.
"We're going to be feeling our way here, and certainly I think there will be mistakes on both sides of the desk while we learn how to function in a new environment," said veteran agent Don Baizley, whose clients include Peter Forsberg, the No. 1 unrestricted free agent on this summer's market.
The new landscape is expected to be a harsh one for the players: a salary cap of around $35 million-$40 million US per team as well as a 24 per cent pay cut on existing salaries and potential buyouts of existing deals that would not count against the cap.
A tentative deal could be announced any time in the next two weeks. Lawyers are drafting the agreement as talks continue daily in Toronto this week.
Once the deal is done, there should be some time for GMs and agents to study it.
"I would think that when and if they get a new deal done they would probably give us some time to digest it before we proceed," Bruins GM Mike O'Connell said Tuesday from Boston. "Because you have to see who your competition might be when it comes to these free agents - just who will be out there, will there be a lot of teams involved?"
Plus the agreement will go to the 700 NHL players for ratification while the NHL holds a board of governors meeting to have owners rubber-stamp the deal.
Following ratification of the CBA on both sides, there likely will be a transitional period before free agency can commence where teams can decide to go ahead with buyouts of players they decide won't fit under the cap, as well as give clubs a chance to try and sign 2003 draft picks.
Then free agency will begin, followed by the belated 2005 entry draft.
Veteran agent Don Meehan of Newport Sports says the new era could be more complicated than ever.
"And if it's more complicated, what concerns me is that there isn't going to be any room for error on either side," Meehan said. "So will there be enough time for an examination of the new agreement and the rules? That's a key question."
Sabres GM Darcy Regier says what preparation is possible right now has already started.
"It comes back to knowing players, the value of players, knowing the flexibility you have in your own organization," Regier said from Buffalo. "I talk to other GMs, they're all analysing each other's situation."
For O'Connell, it could be a busier summer than others. The Bruins have only five players under contract for the 2005-06 season, so they'll be busy looking at the free-agent market. But it also gives them tremendous flexibility.
"If there is a salary cap in place, we'll more room than anyone," O'Connell said.
"We did the same thing," said Regier, who also has only five players under contract for next season (not counting two-way contracts). "It was important. We purposely wanted to come into a new collective bargaining agreement with as much flexibility as we reasonably could."
Agents, meanwhile, are also trying to prepare as best as possible. At IMG, Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry can count on their football colleagues and their experience in navigating through a salary cap world.
"They've been in a similar system to what we think it's going to be in the NHL although we really don't know yet," Brisson said from Los Angeles. "But we've certainly already started talking and getting prepared. It's going to be a new environment."
The NHL head office will have other matters at hand as well. The league must renew its agreement with the IIHF, a deal which oversees transfers of European players to North America as well as Olympics and world championship participation.
And at some point in time when the dust settles, commissioner Gary Bettman will need to turn his attention to Todd Bertuzzi's bid to return to the league.
Canadian Press
6/21/2005 5:36:00 PM
As the NHL and NHL Players' Association continue to put the finishing touches on the collective bargaining agreement, player agents and general managers are anxiously waiting to get their hands on the new deal.
Because once free agency kicks off sometime this summer, it's going be mass mayhem in the NHL.
Some teams hardly have any players under contract for next season. Others will cut their rosters by buying out big contracts. And some clubs will approach star players to re-structure their contracts in order to create cap room.
Agents, meanwhile, will need to quickly get a feel for the landscape and find a home for their clients before all the cap room is gone around the league.
"We're going to be feeling our way here, and certainly I think there will be mistakes on both sides of the desk while we learn how to function in a new environment," said veteran agent Don Baizley, whose clients include Peter Forsberg, the No. 1 unrestricted free agent on this summer's market.
The new landscape is expected to be a harsh one for the players: a salary cap of around $35 million-$40 million US per team as well as a 24 per cent pay cut on existing salaries and potential buyouts of existing deals that would not count against the cap.
A tentative deal could be announced any time in the next two weeks. Lawyers are drafting the agreement as talks continue daily in Toronto this week.
Once the deal is done, there should be some time for GMs and agents to study it.
"I would think that when and if they get a new deal done they would probably give us some time to digest it before we proceed," Bruins GM Mike O'Connell said Tuesday from Boston. "Because you have to see who your competition might be when it comes to these free agents - just who will be out there, will there be a lot of teams involved?"
Plus the agreement will go to the 700 NHL players for ratification while the NHL holds a board of governors meeting to have owners rubber-stamp the deal.
Following ratification of the CBA on both sides, there likely will be a transitional period before free agency can commence where teams can decide to go ahead with buyouts of players they decide won't fit under the cap, as well as give clubs a chance to try and sign 2003 draft picks.
Then free agency will begin, followed by the belated 2005 entry draft.
Veteran agent Don Meehan of Newport Sports says the new era could be more complicated than ever.
"And if it's more complicated, what concerns me is that there isn't going to be any room for error on either side," Meehan said. "So will there be enough time for an examination of the new agreement and the rules? That's a key question."
Sabres GM Darcy Regier says what preparation is possible right now has already started.
"It comes back to knowing players, the value of players, knowing the flexibility you have in your own organization," Regier said from Buffalo. "I talk to other GMs, they're all analysing each other's situation."
For O'Connell, it could be a busier summer than others. The Bruins have only five players under contract for the 2005-06 season, so they'll be busy looking at the free-agent market. But it also gives them tremendous flexibility.
"If there is a salary cap in place, we'll more room than anyone," O'Connell said.
"We did the same thing," said Regier, who also has only five players under contract for next season (not counting two-way contracts). "It was important. We purposely wanted to come into a new collective bargaining agreement with as much flexibility as we reasonably could."
Agents, meanwhile, are also trying to prepare as best as possible. At IMG, Pat Brisson and J.P. Barry can count on their football colleagues and their experience in navigating through a salary cap world.
"They've been in a similar system to what we think it's going to be in the NHL although we really don't know yet," Brisson said from Los Angeles. "But we've certainly already started talking and getting prepared. It's going to be a new environment."
The NHL head office will have other matters at hand as well. The league must renew its agreement with the IIHF, a deal which oversees transfers of European players to North America as well as Olympics and world championship participation.
And at some point in time when the dust settles, commissioner Gary Bettman will need to turn his attention to Todd Bertuzzi's bid to return to the league.
